Gas fitter falsified landlord safety certificates

Landlord safety checks were falsified after a boiler engineer wrongly claiming he was registered as a qualified gas fitter.

Steven Nurse worked on boilers and gas appliances in Torbay, Devon, and handed 10 fraudulent certificates to landlords as proof their homes were safe for tenants.

Nurse lied about his registration as a Gas Safe engineer and signed off his work with numbers belonging to another fitter.

Nurse, of Brixham, Devon, admitted breaching gas safety regulations and was jailed for two months suspended for a year. He was also ordered to pay £2,000 in fines, £500 costs and £1,000 compensation to landlords he had conned.

Exeter Crown Court was told he installed a boiler with the wrong gauge pipework and failed to seal a flue.

Fire safety fines

Two landlord brothers faced six shared house safety charges in court after a worried tenant tipped off the fire service about the state of the property.

A team of inspectors alleged fire safety was so lax in the house in multiple occupation (HMO) in Boston, Lincolnshire, that tenants on the upper floors had no means of escape in an emergency.

Motiur Rahman, 42, and Ashikur Rahman, 38, admitted the six offences at Boston Magistrates Court and were ordered to pay a total of £5,400 in fines and costs.

Landlord banned from letting HMO

Millionaire landlord Mark Fortune has been barred from letting homes in Edinburgh after threatening to shoot tenants in a row over a bill for £160 of damage to a property he owned.

Fortune was convicted at an earlier court hearing.

Councillors met to consider if he was a fit and proper person to run an HMO, and refused to grant him a licence in the city.

Convener of the Regulatory Committee councillor Gavin Barrie said: “Whilst the significant majority of landlords are of good character and comply with the law there are some, such as Mark Fortune, who act unlawfully.

"Private rented property is an important part of the housing market in Edinburgh and Landlord Registration laws have an important part to play in ensuring tenants and neighbours can live their lives safe from crime, disorder and danger.

"This decision sends a clear message to good landlords, tenants and their neighbours that we will take robust action against landlords who act unlawfully."

Following on from the government’s announcement for a national mandatory HMO licensing scheme, comes news of new minimum room size requirements for HMO rental properties.The government says this will help reduce the issues of over-crowding and also deal with po